Top engineering scholarships in USA

Top engineering scholarships in USA: When it comes to higher education, engineering is, no doubt, the most popular field explored by students across the world. Further, in terms of studying abroad, USA bags the biggest piece of the cake (read: international students) and is always the first choice among students planning to pursue education outside their home country. Needless to say, engineering in USA is by far the most sought after degree among international students. However, the flipside here is the high cost of education. The USA is, after all, also one of the costliest destinations to study, especially for international students. But all is not lost. Mainly in a bid to engage students in the field of engineering, both the Government and organisations have built funding agencies to support international students in completing their engineering studies in USA.

In this article, we bring you some of the top engineering scholarships in USA:

AACE International Scholarships:

AACE is one of the most competitive and top engineering scholarships in USA for international as well as US and Canadian students. Although AACE’s prime focus is on cost engineering, the scholarships are offered to students across domains. It mainly covers the following branches of engineering:

The AACE has separate funds for US, Canadian and international students, and the value of scholarship depends on the category of the student. The board offers its engineering scholarships in USA to only 15-20 students annually including all the categories.

Eligibility:

Have to be enrolled in any of the programmes mentioned above as a full time student for the Fall semester.

Have a GPA of 3.0 or higher

Value of scholarship:The value of the scholarship ranges between $2000 and $8000 in USD.

How to apply:You have to apply for the scholarship separately. Applications are open from mid- December to mid-February. Results are out by May.

Fulbright scholarship:One of the top engineering scholarships in USA, the Fulbright scholarship offers grants to international students admitted to US universities. However, the scholarship is not limited to any specific field of study and funds can be utilized by international engineering students. International students can apply for one of the top engineering scholarships in USA under the Fulbright Foreign Student Program. Every year, Fulbright provides 8,000 merit-based grants for people across the world.

Eligibility:

While there are no specific eligibility criteria, the students should be pursuing the level of study that the scholarship category is meant for. Besides, Fulbright selects students based on the following criteria:

How to apply:The Fulbright scholarship opens approximately 15 months before the start of the grant period and deadline is 11-12 months before the grant starts. The deadline is usually mid-September.

UCB scholarship: This scholarship is meant only for students enrolled in engineering programmes at the University of California, Berkeley and is among the top engineering scholarships in USA. Like the other top universities, UCB, too, offers need-based and merit-based scholarships to international students pursuing engineering specialisations in its school of engineering. Interestingly, UCB also offers some specialized engineering scholarships in USA for international students from countries like China, Germany and India. For Indian and Pakistani students pursuing graduate degree at the university, UCB offers the Guru Gobind Singh Fellowship. However, students who receive this scholarship are required to return to their home countries after the completion of their programmes.

Eligibility:

Students have to be enrolled with the University of California, Berkeley

For the Guru Gobind Singh Fellowship, students have to be from either India or Pakistan and be admitted to a graduate programme at UCB.

Value of scholarship:While the other scholarship, generally, offer a discount on the tuition or a monthly stipend, the Guru Gobind Singh Fellowship offers $30,000 to the student.

How to apply:Students are either considered for the scholarship directly at the time of admission or have to apply separately before or after they are enrolled. The admission team usually informs the student if they are eligible for any scholarship.

Aga Khan scholarship:The Aga Khan Foundation offers annual scholarships to students from select developing countries to study abroad. One of the top engineering scholarships in USA, the scholarship is only for postgraduate students and the foundation gives preference to students going for Master’s studies abroad. The candidates have to be citizens of the following countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar and Mozambique. Among the top engineering scholarships in USA, the foundation looks for students with strong academic records and also considers the university the students have been accepted for study. The foundation, generally, prefers students enrolled in highly-ranked universities.

Eligibility:

The aspirants should be from the above mentioned countries.

Aspirants should be under 30 years of age.

Aspirants should be pursuing a postgraduate programme.

Value of scholarship:Scholarships are awarded on a 50% grant: 50% loan basis

How to apply:Applications, generally, open on January 1st every year and the candidates are screened during June/ July. Most of the deadlines fall on 31st March. Aspirants have to collect application forms from Aga Khan offices.

The American Association of University Women:This is one of the top engineering scholarships in USA and is only for women. The American Association of University Women or AAUW is the world’s largest funding source for women pursuing their graduate studies abroad. The foundation offers over 200 fellowships and scholarships to women pursuing any graduate subject including engineering. It caters to international engineering aspirants through two main grants- International Fellowships and Selected Professions Fellowships. The selected professions fellowship, in fact, specifically, targets women who want to pursue engineering.

How to apply: For the International Fellowship, students have to apply by mid-December and for the Selected Professions Fellowships, aspirants have to apply by January.

Besides the above top engineering scholarships in USA, most of the top universities in the country offer different kinds of financial aids to international students pursuing engineering in the country; both at the UG and PG levels. Financial aid may be in the form of scholarships or tuition waiver. Also, most of the universities offer both need-based and merit-based scholarships to international students.